Letters to the editor for Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017

In response to Heidi C. Tucker’s letter to the editor on Aug. 17, we would like to clarify any misconceptions held regarding lunch bus service to the Senior Center.

In the past, we were provided state funding to provide a twice weekly shuttle for seniors who no longer drive. Participation did not meet funding requirements.

RSVP provides this free service. And while the Senior Center is not directly involved with the transportation going forward, our staff are ready to assist in negotiating the changes.

I encourage all seniors who need help with transportation contact RSVP at (775) 687-4680. For information about meal service at the Senior Center, please call (775) 883-0703, or visit the Center at 911 Beverly Drive.

Courtney Warner

Executive Director

Carson City Senior Center

Reformed healthcare must not not forget about veterans

I am troubled by the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the bill to replace Obamacare, because of the impact to the 18,000 Nevada veterans who rely on Medicaid.

Under the current ACA, healthcare providers have withdrawn from 14 out of the 17 counties in Nevada. The BCRA does not address this issue. As many know, just because you serve does not give you access to healthcare from the VA. Even in its present operational standard, they are still working to increase their capacity to care for all veterans who have served in hostile areas.

Current healthcare should not be repealed without a simultaneous replacement bill that covers everyone who has coverage right now. The BRCA will leave 22 million Americans, and a considerable number of veterans, without coverage by 2026. This is unacceptable. There are a number of ways to fix this, at least in the veteran community.

The VA could relax its requirements so more veterans would be eligible for VA healthcare. An additional proposal from Northern Nevada stated that any veteran on Medicare, and not eligible for VA healthcare, would have their care managed by the VA. This would centralize veteran care and lower the cost for those veterans. These two ideas along with increasing grants to properly fund nonprofits which already provide free or reduced care, with an added solicitation of matched private funding, could be an answer to the loss of coverage for veterans.

We support those in our congressional delegation who did not support the BCRA. This includes Gov. Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller, two Republicans who stood up to their party and put Nevada first. Hopefully they will continue to do so until they get it right.

Richard S. Carreon

President of Nevada Veterans Association

Open state park earlier

A simple solution to the cars blocking Highway 28 to enter Sand Harbor would be to open the gates at 6 a.m. This would stop the backup of traffic on Highway 28 on Saturday and Sunday.

Walt Ratchford

Carson City

Appeal faulted for keeping coverage local

I too feel the Appeal is not really reporting the news, but I feel they are just a public relations letter for the left.

The Appeal has not reported the fact that under Trump the feds are now prosecuting gun crimes. Now, if you commit a crime and use a gun the feds will try you in federal court on using a gun. That gets you time in federal prison and no parole there, the law has been in place for years but Obama chose not to enforce it.

The Appeal did not report when Muslim teens raped a child in Idaho. When Sandoval gave the tax breaks to Tesla the Appeal did not say anything about this violating the Nevada Constitution. The state can only give tax breaks to nonprofits, it is in our Constitution and we all know Sandoval is just a Las Vegas liberal wearing a Republican tie tack. The Appeal has not mentioned anything about U.S.-made Stinger missiles being given to Syrian rebels ending up in Afghanistan being used against our troops there. This all happened during the Obama administration.

Rob Cobb Jr.

Carson City

Appeal contributor defends integrity of letter

Contributor Daniel Fitch in the Aug. 5 Appeal implied that I’m plagiarizing Brietbart in my letters to the editor. Not true, of course, but who could blame him?

The alt-left has given up substantive criticism of Trump’s supporters, policies and initiatives. His Labor Department has partly deregulated overtime pay rules, his financial regulators have unleashed the banking business, and Interior is fixing to sharply reduce rules on oil and gas fracking.

Illegal immigrants are actually leaving America, which makes our streets safer, driving unemployment to record lows, and homeownership is climbing rapidly over the Obama-era 50-year low. The stock market has set 26 record closes, which is great for everyone’s pension plans, 401Ks, and IRAs.

What else is left for the anti-prosperity left but to throw mud?

And, by the way, the Nevada Appeal leans neither right nor left.

Lynn Muzzy

Minden

Media’s coverage of election influenced voter turnout

I liked the letter in the Aug. 6 Nevada Appeal from Sue Morrow about Trump’s disdain for the media. Yes, he should be kinder to the media as they are partially responsible for his election.

On election day as the media was reporting that he was losing badly on the East Coast, voters on the West Coast felt that Hillary had it in the bag and decided to go party instead of vote.

The Democrats depended on the heavily-populated East Coast to carry them to victory. Therefore, if the media would not have reported that Trump was getting his butt kicked, the West Coast democrats would have voted instead of partied.

John Lowry

Silver Springs

Not a movie this time

In the 1983 cult movie “War Games,” a young Matthew Broderick hacked into a military computer called Joshua and began playing a game called “Global Thermonuclear War.” After tense movie drama, all parties realized that the game, and that type of war in real life, was unwinnable, sort of like Tic-Tac-Toe.

Now we have two heads of state on the world stage pondering the same unwinnable game of global thermonuclear war. Kim Jong-un, the mentally deficient cartoon character leader of North Korea, has pushed the world to the brink of a catastrophe. The country has been out of the civilization loop for more than 40 years. The people are starving, not just of food but of information. They’ve been born and raised to idolize and worship a chubby and childlike crazy lunatic with access to the dangerously wrong buttons. Anyone with answers to that problem, fire away.

Then we have Trump. Our very own mentally deficient cartoon character who fancies himself as the President of the United States. His tempestuous tweeting of lies and distortions have helped this situation escalate even further. Instead of being the great deal maker, he stokes the furnace with tweets of bellicosity and belligerence. He brags about the mighty nuclear arsenal that America has, and we will bring “fire and fury” to anyone who tests our resolve. That’s the way to negotiate, pal. I sure hope there is an adult somewhere in the room.

Last note to the Trumpsters. The Muslims are still here. The wall isn’t getting built. Solar jobs outnumber coal miners 6-1. And you’re not moving up to a double-wide anytime soon.

Rick Van Alfen

Carson City

Secret Service protection appropriate for Robert Mueller

Some points to ponder: Putin did everything in his power to get Trump elected President of the United States; Putin’s enemies have an unhealthy habit of turning up dead; Putin undoubtedly has clandestine agents operating in the D.C. area; Putin and Trump are now “buddies.”

In deference to these indisputable observations, would it not be prudent to provide Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller with Secret Service protection?

John O’Neill

Minden

Regarding marijuana, people of Carson have spoken

The residents of Carson City, last November, voted against the sale of marijuana in our city. Now our elected officials are disregarding the will of the people and making plans for marijuana to be easily available in our community.

Our voice at the ballot box should mean something. As problems develop in our fair city as a result of their actions, remember their names. Then vote accordingly at the next election. I wish it were that simple.

Monique Giron

Carson City

Banks avoid accountability

When signing up for a bank account or student loan, it is increasingly common that a forced arbitration clause will be buried in the fine-print. This forced arbitration clause robs consumers of their day before an impartial jury, if they ever decide they need one.

When banks, credit card companies and others violate the law, they use these “rip-off” clauses to force customers to go before an arbitrator, usually selected by the company, where the deck is stacked against us.

Most of us do not anticipate the need to sue our banks. But we want the right to join with others in cases of widespread wrongdoing. Yet banks like Wells Fargo have used forced arbitration to avoid accountability and block class actions.

The watchdogs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a rule restricting the use of forced arbitration and class-action bans, but some members of Congress are threatening to take away our day in court. Our Senators must put Nevadans first and reject efforts to overturn the rule.

Tonda Benge

Reno

Apathatic Americans

Why do you protest against who should use restrooms, should there be more bicycle lanes and other meaningless trivia?

Why are you not enraged because American troops are stationed in 32-plus locations in the World i.e. Germany (since WWII), South Korea, Vietnam, Guam, etc.

Think what it must cost to man all these locations. Why? Today warships & bombers, and the military are not a U.S. defense. Our defense is a nuclear defense system. Why put our own defense at risk to defend the world? We should retire our generals and admirals and add that savings to being able to have free education and health care for all Americans.

Wake up! We have a do-nothing congress. We must do for ourselves, we must vote for candidates who are for America — not for a career. We should unite under a cause for protecting our own borders. Rather than following ancient treaties like NATO.